The dorsal hippocampus mediates synaptic destabilization and memory lability in the amygdala in the absence of contextual novelty

Coping with the experience of frustration throughout life: Sex- and age-specific effects of early life stress on the susceptibility to reward devaluation

Early life stress may lead to lifelong impairments in psychophysiological functions, including emotional and reward systems. Unpredicted decrease in reward magnitude generates a negative emotional state (frustration) that may be involved with susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. We evaluated, in adolescents and adult rats of both sexes, whether maternal separation (MS) alters the ability to cope with an unexpected reduction of reward later in life. Litters of Wistar rats were divided into controls (non handled - NH) or subjected to MS. Animals were trained to find sugary cereal pellets; later the amount was reduced. Increased latency to reach the reward-associated area indicates higher inability to regulate frustration. The dorsal hippocampus (dHC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) were evaluated for protein levels of NMDA receptor subunits (GluN2A/GluN2B), synaptophysin, PSD95, SNAP-25 and CRF1. We found that adult MS males had greater vulnerability to reward reduction, together with decreased GluN2A and increased GluN2B immunocontent in the dHC. MS females and adolescents did not differ from controls. We concluded that MS enhances the response to frustration in adult males. The change in the ratio of GluN2A and GluN2B subunits in dHC could be related to a stronger, more difficult to update memory of the aversive experience.

Sex differences in hippocampal β-adrenergic receptor subtypes drive retrieval, retention, and learning of cocaine-associated memories

Background

Drug seeking behavior occurs in response to environmental contexts and drug-associated cues. The presence of these pervasive stimuli impedes abstinence success. β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) have a long-standing historical implication in driving processes associated with contextual memories, including drug-associated memories in substance use disorders. However, sex differences in the role of β-adrenergic receptors in drug memories remain unknown.

Hypothesis

Prior reports indicate a selective role for β2-ARs in retrieval and retention of contextual drug memories in males, and substantial sex differences exist in the expression of β-ARs of male and female rats. Therefore, we hypothesized that there are sex differences in selective recruitment of β-ARs during different stages of memory encoding and retrieval.

Methods

The role of β-ARs in driving retrieval and learning of contextual cocaine memories was investigated using cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) in adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were infused directly to the dorsal hippocampus with Propranolol (β1 and β2) or ICI-118,551 (β1) and/or Betaxolol (β2), immediately prior to testing (retrieval), or paired to each cocaine (10 mg/kp, IP) conditioning session (learning).

Results

In males, administration of either β1, β2, or combined β1 and β2-ARs before the initial CPP testing reduced the expression of a CPP compared to vehicle administration. In females, β2-ARs transiently decreased CPP memories, whereas β1 had long lasting but not immediate effects to decrease CPP memories. Additionally, β1 and combined β1 and β2-ARs had immediate and persistent effects to decrease CPP memory expression. DG Fos + neurons predicted cocaine CPP expression in males, whereas CA1 and CA3 Fos + neurons predicted cocaine CPP expression in females.

Conclusion

There are significant sex differences in the role of dorsal hippocampus β-ARs in the encoding and expression of cocaine conditioned place preference. Furthermore, sub regions of the dorsal hippocampus appear to activate differently between male and female rats during CPP. Therefore DG, CA3, and CA1 may have separate region- and sex-specific impacts on driving drug- associated, or context-associated cues.

Context and Time Regulate Fear Memory Consolidation and Reconsolidation in the Basolateral Amygdala Complex

It is widely accepted that fear memories are consolidated through protein synthesis-dependent changes in the basolateral amygdala complex (BLA). However, recent studies show that protein synthesis is not required to consolidate the memory of a new dangerous experience when it is similar to a prior experience. Here, we examined whether the protein synthesis requirement for consolidating the new experience varies with its spatial and temporal distance from the prior experience. Female and male rats were conditioned to fear a stimulus (S1, e.g., light) paired with shock in stage 1 and a second stimulus (S2, e.g., tone) that preceded additional S1-shock pairings (S2-S1-shock) in stage 2. The latter stage was followed by a BLA infusion of a protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, or vehicle. Subsequent testing with S2 revealed that protein synthesis in the BLA was not required to consolidate fear to S2 when the training stages occurred 48 h apart in the same context; was required when they were separated by 14 d or occurred in different contexts; but was again not required if S1 was re-presented after the delay or in the different context. Similarly, protein synthesis in the BLA was not required to reconsolidate fear to S2 when the training stages occurred 48 h apart but was required when they occurred 14 d apart. Thus, the protein synthesis requirement for consolidating/reconsolidating fear memories in the BLA is determined by similarity between present and past experiences, the time and place in which they occur, and reminders of the past experiences.

Elevated fear states facilitate ventral hippocampal engagement of basolateral amygdala neuronal activity

Fear memory formation and retention rely on the activation of distributed neural circuits. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and ventral hippocampus (VH) in particular are two regions that support contextual fear memory processes and share reciprocal connections. The VH → BLA pathway is critical for increases in fear after initial learning, in both fear renewal following extinction learning and during fear generalization. This raises the possibility that functional changes in VH projections to the BLA support increases in learned fear. In line with this, fear can also be increased with alterations to the original content of the memory via reconsolidation, as in fear elevation procedures. However, very little is known about the functional changes in the VH → BLA pathway supporting reconsolidation-related increases in fear. In this study, we used in vivo extracellular electrophysiology to examine the functional neuronal changes within the BLA and in the VH → BLA pathway as a result of fear elevation and standard fear retrieval procedures. Elevated fear expression was accompanied by higher BLA spontaneous firing compared to a standard fear retrieval condition. Across a range of stimulation frequencies, we also found that VH stimulation evoked higher BLA firing following fear elevation compared to standard retrieval. These results suggest that fear elevation is associated with an increased capacity of the VH to drive neuronal activity in the BLA, highlighting a potential circuit involved in strengthening existing fear memories.

Fear Reduced Through Unconditional Stimulus Deflation Is Behaviorally Distinct From Extinction and Differentially Engages the Amygdala

Background

Context fear memory can be reliably reduced by subsequent pairings of that context with a weaker shock. This procedure shares similarities with extinction learning: both involve extended time in the conditioning chamber following training and reduce context-elicited fear. Unlike extinction, this weak-shock exposure has been hypothesized to engage reconsolidation-like processes that weaken the original memory.

Methods

We directly compared the weak-shock procedure with extinction using male and female Long Evans rats.

Results

Both repeated weak-shock exposure and extinction resulted in decreased context freezing relative to animals that received context fear conditioning but no subsequent context exposure. Conditioning with the weak shock was not enough to form a persistent context-shock association on its own, suggesting that the weak-shock procedure does not create a new memory. Weak-shock exposure in a new context can still reduce freezing elicited by the training context, suggesting that it reduces responding through a different process than extinction, which does not transcend context. Finally, reduced fear behavior produced through both extinction and weak-shock exposure was mirrored by reduced zif268 expression in the basolateral amygdala. However, only the weak-shock procedure resulted in changes in lysine-48 polyubiquitin tagging in the synapse of the basolateral amygdala, suggesting that this procedure produced long-lasting changes in synaptic function within the basolateral amygdala.

Conclusions

These results suggest that the weak-shock procedure does not rely on the creation of a new inhibitory memory, as in extinction, and instead may alter the original representation of the shock to reduce fear responding.

Memory retrieval, reconsolidation, and extinction: Exploring the boundary conditions of post-conditioning cue exposure

Following fear conditioning, behavior can be reduced by giving many CS-alone presentations in a process known as extinction or by presenting a few CS-alone presentations and interfering with subsequent memory reconsolidation. While the two share procedural similarities, both the behavioral outcomes and the neurobiological underpinnings are distinct. Here we review the neural and behavioral mechanisms that produce these separate behavioral reductions, as well as some factors that determine whether or not a retrieval-dependent reconsolidation process or an extinction process will be in effect.

Effects of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol on fear memory labilization and reconsolidation: A putative role of GluN2B-NMDA receptor within the dorsal hippocampus

Cannabis preparations could be an effective reconsolidation-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the effects of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in fear memory labilization, a critical condition for retrieval-induced reconsolidation, are undetermined. We sought to investigate the effect of a conventional and an ultra-low dose of THC in memory labilization of adult male Wistar rats submitted to contextual fear conditioning. Pretreatment with THC 0.002, but not THC 0.3 mg/kg, i. p., before memory retrieval, did not change memory expression during the retrieval but impaired reconsolidation. No treatment changed freezing expression in an unpaired context. Before retrieval, THC 0.3, but not THC 0.002, decreased GluN2A-NMDA expression and the GluN2A/GluN2B ratio in the dorsal hippocampus (DH) 24 h later. No changes were observed immediately after retrieval. Pretreatment with THC 0.3 abolished the reconsolidation-impairing effect of anisomycin injected into the DH, suggesting an impairment in memory labilization. This effect was associated with an increased freezing expression in the unpaired context and was not observed with the THC ultra-low dose. The GluN2B-NMDA antagonism increased fear generalization in the anisomycin-treated group but restored its reconsolidation-impairing effect and reduced fear generalization when animals were pretreated with THC 0.3. GluN2A-NMDA antagonism or inhibition of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in the DH did not interfere with the effects of THC 0.3. Our findings indicate that THC causes a bidirectional effect on fear memory labilization that depends on hippocampal GluN2B-NMDA receptors' involvement in fear memory generalization.

Unique roles for the anterior and posterior retrosplenial cortices in encoding and retrieval of memory for context

The rat retrosplenial cortex (RSC) makes critical contributions to learning and memory but these contributions may not be uniform along its rostro-caudal axis. Previous work suggests that event-related and context-related information are differentially encoded by anterior and posterior RSC subregions. Here, we further test this idea using a procedure in which spatial/environmental cues (context) and discrete event memories are acquired separately. All animals received a 5-min pre-exposure to the training context 24 h before contextual fear conditioning where shock was delivered immediately upon being placed in the chamber. Rats were tested for memory for the context the next day. We found that optogenetic inhibition of cells in only the posterior RSC during the pre-exposure phase, when spatial information is encoded, reduced behavioral responding during the subsequent memory test. However, similar inhibition of either the anterior or posterior RSC during shock delivery, when information about both the context and the shock become integrated, impaired memory. Finally, inhibiting cellular activity in only the posterior RSC during memory retrieval during testing reduced responding. Together, these results suggest that while activity in both subregions is needed during the period in which the event-related information becomes integrated with the context representation, the posterior RSC is important for both memory formation and retrieval or expression of memory for information about the context. These results add to a growing literature demonstrating a role for the RSC in integration of multiple aspects of memory, and provide information on how spatial representations reliant on the retrosplenial cortex interact with associative learning.

Developmental Shifts in Amygdala Activity during a High Social Drive State

Amygdala abnormalities characterize several psychiatric disorders with prominent social deficits and often emerge during adolescence. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) bidirectionally modulates social behavior and has increased sensitivity during adolescence. We tested how an environmentally-driven social state is regulated by the BLA in adults and adolescent male rats. We found that a high social drive state caused by brief social isolation increases age-specific social behaviors and increased BLA neuronal activity. Chemogenetic inactivation of BLA decreased the effect of high social drive on social engagement. High social drive preferentially enhanced BLA activity during social engagement; however, the effect of social opportunity on BLA activity was greater during adolescence. While this identifies a substrate underlying age differences in social drive, we then determined that high social drive increased BLA NMDA GluN2B expression and sensitivity to antagonism increased with age. Further, the effect of a high social drive state on BLA activity during social engagement was diminished by GluN2B blockade in an age-dependent manner. These results demonstrate the necessity of the BLA for environmentally driven social behavior, its sensitivity to social opportunity, and uncover a maturing role for BLA and its GluN2B receptors in social engagement.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Social engagement during adolescence is a key component of healthy development. Social drive provides the impetus for social engagement and abnormalities underlie social symptoms of depression and anxiety. While adolescence is characterized by transitions in social drive and social environment sensitivity, little is known about the neural basis for these changes. We found that amygdala activity is uniquely sensitive to social environment during adolescence compared with adulthood, and is required for expression of heightened social drive. In addition, the neural substrates shift toward NMDA dependence in adulthood. These results are the first to demonstrate a unique neural signature of higher social drive and begin to uncover the underlying factors that heighten social engagement during adolescence.

Chemogenetic inactivation of the nucleus reuniens impairs object placement memory in female mice

Episodic memory is a complex process requiring input from several regions of the brain. Emerging evidence suggests that coordinated activity between the dorsal hippocampus (DH) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is required for episodic memory consolidation. However, the mechanisms through which the DH and mPFC interact to promote memory consolidation remain poorly understood. A growing body of research suggests that the nucleus reuniens of the thalamus (RE) is one of several structures that facilitate communication between the DH and mPFC during memory and may do so through bidirectional excitatory projections to both regions. Furthermore, recent work from other labs indicates that the RE is necessary for spatial working memory. However, it is not clear to what extent the RE is necessary for memory of object locations. The goal of this study was to determine whether activity in the RE is necessary for spatial memory as measured by the object placement (OP) task in female mice. A kappa-opioid receptor DREADD (KORD) virus was used to inactivate excitatory neurons in the RE pre- or post-training to establish a role for the RE in spatial memory acquisition and consolidation, respectively. RE inactivation prior to, or immediately after, object training blocked OP memory formation relative to chance and to control mice. Moreover, expression of the immediate early gene EGR-1 was reduced in the RE 1 hour after an object training trial, supporting the conclusion that reduced neuronal activity in the RE impairs the formation of object location memories. In summary, the findings of this study support a key role for the RE in spatial memory acquisition and consolidation.

Age-Related Memory Impairment Is Associated with Increased zif268 Protein Accumulation and Decreased Rpt6 Phosphorylation

Aging is associated with cognitive decline, including impairments in the ability to accurately form and recall memories. Some behavioral and brain changes associated with aging are evident as early as middle age, making the understanding of associated neurobiological mechanisms essential to aid in efforts aimed at slowing cognitive decline throughout the lifespan. Here, we found that both 15-month-old and 22-month-old rats showed impaired memory recall following trace fear conditioning. This behavioral deficit was accompanied by increased zif268 protein accumulation relative to 3-month-old animals in the medial prefrontal cortex, the dorsal and ventral hippocampi, the anterior and posterior retrosplenial cortices, the lateral amygdala, and the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray. Elevated zif268 protein levels corresponded with decreases in phosphorylation of the Rpt6 proteasome regulatory subunit, which is indicative of decreased engagement of activity-driven protein degradation. Together, these results identify several brain regions differentially impacted by aging and suggest that the accumulation of proteins associated with memory retrieval, through reduced proteolytic activity, is associated with age-related impairments in memory retention.

Shifting from fear to safety through deconditioning-update

Aversive memories are at the heart of psychiatric disorders such as phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here, we present a new behavioral approach in rats that robustly attenuates aversive memories. This method consists of ‘deconditioning’ animals previously trained to associate a tone with a strong footshock by replacing it with a much weaker one during memory retrieval. Our results indicate that deconditioning-update is more effective than traditional extinction in reducing fear responses; moreover, such effects are long lasting and resistant to renewal and spontaneous recovery. Remarkably, this strategy overcame important boundary conditions for memory updating, such as remote or very strong traumatic memories. The same beneficial effect was found in other types of fear-related memories. Deconditioning was mediated by L-type voltage-gated calcium channels and is consistent with computational accounts of mismatch-induced memory updating. Our results suggest that shifting from fear to safety through deconditioning-update is a promising approach to attenuate traumatic memories.